Here and After
by Violet Vodka
Summary: It's life after the BAU for Spencer Reid. But what made him leave his post in the BAU?
1. Chapter 1

Her pen flicks out of her hand and she bends over to pick it up. A hand beats her to it and to her surprise it was one of the agents who were lecturing awhile ago.

He hands her back the pen. "Sorry", Cent mumbles. He responded with a kind smile and a wink. "_Not bad_" she thought to herself. Tall, dark, athletic built and with eyes that can melt you faster than you can say FBI.

"…Just because a person likes to set fire doesn't automatically make him an arsonist", the elder agent was saying.

It was the third day of the Psych Lecture, a series of talks sponsored by the school. They've invited shrinks, persons with OCD and these FBI agents in the Behavioral Analysis Unit.

"Yeah, because arsonists target structures - "

" –- not persons. They burn people for a reason", Cent cut off the squeaky FBI agent mid-sentence. "Most probably revenge." He looked at her and Cent realized the whole class was looking at her too. "Sorry. I just … know."

The agent nodded. "Right. I notice you tend to say sorry a lot, even if you're not really at fault. Earlier you dropped your pen and said sorry to Agent Morgan. Technically it's the wind and gravity's fault, not yours. And now you just said the right answer but you feel apologetic for it, which gives me an idea that you're guilty of something and you act on that guilt any instance you can say sorry. You're also the eldest in your family - "

"Don't profile me", Cent said, rather coldly.

"Right. I apologize", he half-whispered and looked down at his feet.

"Thank you for your time guys. All of us agents will be staying on so if you have any questions feel free to ask us", the man who introduced himself as Agent Aaron Hotchner said.

Most of the students in the room started to pile out. Cent was almost at the door when the squeaky agent tapped her on the shoulder.

"Listen, I didn't mean to profile you earlier. It's… I guess reflex or something. I'm Dr. Spencer Reid, but well, you can just call me Reid. Or Spencer. Agent Reid. Whichever." He laughed nervously.

"You're a doctor? How young are you?" Cent asked. And all along she thought he was just a smart-ass intern for the FBI. "Oh not a medical doctor, but I have three PhDs which explains…yeah, the 'doctor'". His voice drops to a whisper. "The others just won't drop the doctor 'coz they think people see me as a kid. Won't take me seriously."

Cent nodded slowly. "I see. Well, no problem. I mean, it's your job to profile right? Just wasn't expecting I'd be the lucky one to be profiled." She glanced at her watch. "It was nice meeting you Spencer. I have exams", she held out her hand for a handshake. Reid acknowledged it with his' and a blank expression on his face. "Cent. My name's Cent."


	2. Chapter 2

If there was anyone who wouldn't miss a beat whenever Reid was alone with a lady, it would be Morgan.

"Woo-hoo pretty boy! See you got pen lady talking to you back there. Hitting a bar tonight? Can I tag along"? Morgan grilled Reid as they made their way to their reserved table at the cafeteria. "Shut up Morgan. I just apologized. I got carried away while discussing."

"Don't you always get carried away with anything?" Emily Prentiss shot from across the table. "Yeah like this one time he answered a question that wasn't addressed to him. And another time - "

"Morgan. Drop it." Hotch said in an even tone, but you can tell from his eyes he was smiling.

"Well if any of these kids are the future of the BAU then bad is an understatement. Really, look around," Prentiss observed. "Oh come on Emily. You're telling us you've looked like that since college? Suit, slacks and gun?" Morgan said. "I looked the same, if not worse, when I was in college. Cut these guys some slack."

"Yeah, like than pen lady earlier. She's got potential. Right, Reid?" David Rossi said. He could tell Reid would instantly become uncomfortable at the mention of the girl he was talking to after the lecture. "She's on her way to thinking like a profiler."

Reid's mind was elsewhere. He couldn't take his mind off that one line she said.

"_Sorry. I just … know_."

Cent and her friends were at their usual table, discussing the big football meet this coming weekend. Her friend Angela was saying something but she tuned her out. Her mind was drifting back to the lecture with the FBI agents.

"Hel-lo? Earth to Cent!" Angela was waving her iPhone in front of Cent.

"Sorry." _There goes that sorry again_, Cent thinks to herself.

"Oh my my what good have I done to deserve to see such piece of heaven?" Cent glanced at Lucy and followed her line of sight. Her eyes landed on that agent who picked up her pen. "That's FBI agent Morgan", Cent said.

"You know him?", Lucy gaped at her friend. "What? It's not like we hooked up! He was at the Psych Lecture. All of them were." She gestured at the agents' table.

Reid caught her eyes.

"Oh. Uh, Cent? That creepy-looking guy? Totally checking you out." Cent held Reid's gaze for a few seconds, then dropped it. "He's not creepy. He's also an agent and FYI, he has three PhDs." She got her things and prepared to leave. "Now if you'll excuse me I have a squad to prep."

Reid's eyes followed Cent as she made her way out of the cafeteria.


	3. Chapter 3

Cent took long, deep breaths as she reached the football field. She's home.

Her thoughts were startled by a blaring whistle from the cheer coach. "Well we've got a desperate team to cheer this Saturday, so get to it! Partner up and do stretches!" She blows her whistle again. "And welcome back, Captain Cent", she added in a softer tone while patting Cent on the head.

The sun has just set when practice was wrapping up. Some of the girls were just sprawled on the field, waiting for their boyfriends from the locker room. Cent was already making her way back to her car when someone called out her name.

"Cent? Your name's Cent, right? Hey! Cent!"

She looked over her shoulder and saw Reid approaching. She chuckled and shook her head. "Why? Oh, you're not allowed to be seen with a non-football guy? But I'm not a student. Completely harmless." He held up both his hands.

Cent glanced at the gun holstered on his hip and laughed. "Well, I'm scared of it, too."

"What's up? Figured you guys have left already." She looked around the almost empty parking lot.

"Oh…I…uh…told them they could go ahead. Didn't know I was going to miss school this much with this visit." He squinted as he took a look around the field. He eyed her clothes and gym bag. "Sure don't look like a football player."

"I'm with the squad."

Reid looked like he wanted to run away. "Cheer squad. I'm captain; back from an injury. Sucks I missed the big meet but it's good to be back."

Reid gulped. "What?" Cent asked.

"Nothing. I just remembered I have to make it back to the hotel before six. I have to go. Nice running into you." He turned away and started to walk.

"I can drive you to the hotel!" Cent called out. Reid just waved his hand and continued walking.

"Suit yourself," Cent muttered and started the engine.


	4. Chapter 4

"Mom! Henry!" Cent called out as she unlocked the front door. She heard little footsteps coming from the kitchen. "Me cookies," Henry said while biting on a big cookie.

"I see you got one there, buddy. Don't make a mess now. Where's Mom?" Cent made her way to the refrigerator and grabbed an energy drink. She didn't know a three-week break from the squad would take a toll on her muscles. She felt beat. Henry was pointing at the backdoor. Her Mom must be gardening again.

"Hey Mom! I'm home! I'm in my bedroom if you need anything! Henry, go back to the kitchen and finish your cookies."

Passing by the living room, she felt something wrong. Something's not in order. She quickly ran her eyes through the furniture to check if something's missing. Nothing. All were in their proper places. She was about to dismiss it when her eyes caught the frames on top of the TV.

They have new photos. And none of them had her face in them.

Reid was hunched over a book when Morgan came in their shared hotel room. "Kid, we're leaving tomorrow. And I'm not teasing you now, but what you say we try to track down that pen lady?"

"Her name's Cent, Morgan. And no, thanks. I'm five books behind my reading materials. I need to catch up," Reid said without looking up from the book.

"Your brain takes in 20,000 words per minute and you're behind? Try being normal, will you?" He flipped the TV on and surfed the channels aimlessly.

"Morgan. That girl, Cent. Remember when she cut me off? She said 'Sorry. I just … know' like it was almost normal for her to know the reason behind people burning other people."

"Reid, that's written in Psych textbooks all over," Morgan said. Reid thought about what he said for a moment. "Yeah, but if it were written in books, then at least two or three other students would know, right?"

Morgan leaned towards Reid. "Are you trying to say she burns people?"

"No. But I might be on to something."

They looked at each other for a moment then Morgan broke into hysterical laughter.

"Seriously, Reid? Seriously? You think she's got the mind of an unsub? You're overthinking again, kid. Come on, the team's grabbing some drinks. Loosen up!"

Reid was hesitating when Hotch opened the door.

"Hotch, would you please drag this kid away from the book?" Morgan pleaded.

Hotch smiled. "Reid. You're drinking. It's an order."

"Thank God! Get up, Reid," Morgan said, grabbing him by the arm and pushing him to the hallway.


	5. Chapter 5

Prentiss took a good look at the people in the table. It's moments like this that makes her regret her resignation from the BAU, albeit for just a short time. The office was her home, and this was her family. It was rare for them to be laidback like this, so each one of them knew it was a moment to enjoy.

Penelope Garcia and Jennifer Jareau, or JJ as she's more known as, returned to the table with a round of beer for everyone.

"Pretend like we're still in college and drink your asses off! Tomorrow we're adults again!" Morgan led the toast. The DJ played an upbeat song.

"I hate this song!" Penelope groaned.

"I love this song!" JJ shouted.

"I know this song!" Emily grabbed her two other friends and headed to the dance floor.

"Hey, Morgan, looks like the ladies are beating you at your game. Check out that guy at your three o' clock," Rossi said.

Morgan turned his head to the left and saw a guy eyeing JJ from afar.

"Oh-hoh you wouldn't wanna mess with that mama!" Morgan said as he got off the table, beer in hand.

Bars were never exactly his thing, and Reid was completely used to being left at the table watching his female officemates' purses. Rossi exchanged knowing looks with Hotch.

"Hey Reid. I shouldn't be talking about work but would you mind going back to the school with JJ tomorrow? We need the names of those who attended the lectures. Future reference," Hotch said.

But Reid was quick to the draw. "Ha. Ha. Don't push it, Hotch. I'm not interested in her." Rossi took a gulp from his mug.

Prentiss, Garcia and JJ emerged from the packed dance floor. "I've forgotten how good this feels!" JJ exclaimed. Hotch and Rossi eyed her suspiciously.

"Of course the last time I went clubbing was when I was still single. Really. Believe me!" She said when Hotch wouldn't let up.

"Where's Reid?" Garcia asked.

"I think the more appropriate question is, where's Morgan?" Rossi said, to which the team all laughed in agreement.


	6. Chapter 6

Cent woke up to an empty house. She's slowly getting used to it since her father's death. And she'd very much like to get used to not calling her stepmom 'Mom' – she only did so because her father wanted her to. He meant everything to her that's why she made sure she got that scholarship at Wood University. Unfortunately, her father didn't even see her graduate from high school.

Her phone vibrated on the counter. It was Lucy calling. It's been a week since their football team's big loss and no amount of post-game pep rally could boost the whole school's morale. "What's up Lucy?" Cent asked as she opened a box of cereal.

"Well it's Saturday! You know what's up, girlfriend."

Cent had no idea at all. "Samara Centeno, how dare you, after eight years of friendship and three boyfriends! It's my freakin' birthday!" Cent totally forgot.

"Omigosh Lucy I totally – I'm sorry! Ok I'll let you slip calling me by my full name because it's your birthday. You know what, come on. Let's go shopping. I'll buy you those stilettos you've been eyeing for more than a month now. I'll pick you up in 10 be ready bye!" Cent threw her phone down and hurried to the shower.

"How about that one? Red, baseball cap, Tommy Hil shirt," Angela asked through a mouthful of yoghurt. "No. Not my type," Cent replied without batting an eyelash. "What? He's so totally your type! Kinda looks like Grant from this angle," Lucy said.

"Well let's just say I'm steering clear from guys like him," Cent retorted. Someone caught her eye and she almost went after the guy when she realized he wasn't who she was thinking he was. "Who's that?" Lucy asked. "No one. Thought it was Spencer." Lucy and Angela exchanged excited looks. "Who's Spencer?" Angela pressed.

"That FBI guy who was in the lecture." Cent said. "But I thought his name was Morgan? Moore? Or something?" Angela said. Cent looked at both her friends, doubting if she should tell them that Spencer was on her mind the whole week after the lecture. "No, not him. The one you called creepy," she said, nodding at Lucy's direction.

"Oh, so that's your type now? Wow from hero to zero! Way to go downhill, girlfriend!" Cent rolled her eyes. "It's not that way." She shook her head from exasperation. No way would they understand. "Whatever you say."

The team just landed in Quantico, Virginia from Dallas. Another case, another life saved. Another unsub put to jail. The office was deserted as Prentiss, Reid and Garcia made their way in. "Well, I have to go. I have a wedding tomorrow, I don't want to look like hell. Goodnight guys," Prentiss said as she set her ready-bag under her table.

When Prentiss had left, Reid turned to Garcia.

"Garcia, I need a favor. This is not a case, I just need you to track someone – someone from Wood University."

"Of course, peaches. Give me the name tomorrow and I'll get down to it."

"Thanks, Garcia. And oh, please don't tell anyone. Anyone at all."

Garcia made a zipper motion across her mouth and planted a kiss on Reid's head as she headed out the door.


	7. Chapter 7

Reid was at Garcia's office before she was even there. "Wow, someone's an eager beaver. Oh! Is that coffee? Thank you prince genius," she said as she opened the door.

"Welcome to my lair. And how may I be of service to you?"

"Garcia, I need you to look through the students at Wood University. Look for students that have 'Cent' in their names. Nicknames, possibly."

Garcia was already tapping away in her keyboard.

"Cheerleader; captain of the squad, actually. She was at the lecture so she must have Psych units - "

"Too easy, my prince," Garcia said with a sly smile.

"Samara Quinn Centeno. In her junior year and is under a cheerleading scholarship. Only child of her parents, Bernard and Amelia Centeno - but oh wait, her father re-married five years ago so she now has a stepmom and three younger brothers. Uh, those were her stepmom's children from a previous marriage. And no, she's a journalism major. No Psych units in her term load."

Reid was thinking. "Ok, ok. Cross-reference the names of her parents to murders caused by fire."

"Zilch," Garcia said.

"There must be something. Something that will relate her to fire. Maybe her father was part of the police force? Or a firefighter?" Reid pressed on.

Garcia ran another match test.

"Bingo. Her father was a firefighter and was severely burned after rescuing - oh my God, Reid this is tragic."

Reid went closer to Garcia's screen. Newspaper clippings about how a man heroically went inside a burning house to rescue a woman and a teenage girl; about how the woman and the girl survived, but the man perished in the fire; lab photos of the man severely burned were all over Garcia's screen.

"Garcia, Cent's father was not working that time. The burning house was his house, and he saved his wife and Cent!"

Reid started pacing back and forth.

"Repeated apology, or apologizing at any instance you can say sorry is a sign of guilt over something. You think you can say sorry for that one thing you're guilty about if you say it often. What is she guilty about, Garcia?"

She looked up from her computer screen. "Maybe because she feels she's the one who should've died instead, not her father?"

Reid considered what Garcia said.

"Yeah, but that's too shallow. I mean, any person can feel guilty about the smallest thing but to have that guilt manifest in your behavior years after the incident means whatever happened was pretty big."


	8. Chapter 8

"Glad you guys are in early. Hotch needs us in the conference room," JJ said as she walked past the agents' desk. She stopped short at Reid's desk.

"Thought I saw him already. Where'd he go?"

Prentiss and Morgan looked at each other and shrugged.

"I'm sure he'll catch on. Let's go," Morgan said.

JJ immediately went to the details of the case once Hotch and Rossi were in the room.

"The local PD has received several reports of girls aged between 20 and 22 who were murdered and were later found in their school's girls' locker rooms," JJ started.

"Any sign of struggle?" Morgan asked as he flipped through the photos of the victims.

"All of them. Scratch marks were present in their arms and legs – fingernails. All of them were strangled to death," JJ finished off.

"At least he's not going to waste our time figuring out his signature. What's the rest of the victimology?" Hotch asked.

"Victims were from different universities. The killings started late last year. So far, Jamie Mitchell is the sixth. She was a straight-A student, was on a scholarship and seemed to be liked by everyone on campus. All her professors had nothing against her," JJ said.

"How about the others?" Hotch asked.

"Jamie was the only one on scholarship. The rest were just regular students, I suppose. Those who handled the investigation of the previous cases didn't want to open the files. They shrugged it off as an ordinary campus crime," JJ said.

Hotch was already getting up and gathering the files. "We of all people know that nothing is as ordinary as it seems. JJ, I need you to contact and convince the other detectives to re-open the case file once we get there. We'll figure the rest out in the plane. Wheels up in 30."

He looked around the table. "Where's Reid?"

Just then, Reid entered the conference room. "Oh. Oh. Hotch I'm sorry. I was at Garcia's office, I – I just needed some help with something. Are we leaving?"

"Yes. Reid this is the last time I'll allow this to happen. Now hurry. See you all on the plane," Hotch said as he made his way out the door. The rest of the agents followed suit, but JJ stayed behind and waited for Reid.

"What's up? I'm no profiler but this sure is the first time you missed a briefing. Something bothering you Spence?"

"Uh, no. Just looked something up in Garcia's files. For, uhm, my mom," Reid said uncomfortably.

"Oookay, if you say so. See you on the plane," JJ nodded and patted Reid on the shoulder.


	9. Chapter 9

"Let's go over this one more time. We only know little about the unsub's latest victim. Other than that, we have nothing on his previous ones. Jamie doesn't seem to be a threat – student, a scholar, no bad record," Hotch began the next briefing on the plane.

"That may mean the unsub is acting on a frustration. Maybe he's not good with the ladies, or he sees in them something he has wanted all his life," Rossi continued.

"There's no apparent physical pattern on his victims – there's a brunette, three blondes, a red-head – he's all over the place," JJ said helpfully, again passing around photos of the victims.

"His inferiority to a woman might have stemmed from abuse when he was a child, too. His mother might have made him feel stupid, worthless," Prentiss added.

"Children who grew up in abusive households do tend to act out their frustrations on the people who most reflect their desired life. Take for example Ryan Ambers, the case we worked on a few months back. All the men he killed resembled his favorite actor, because as a kid his parents made fun of him when he said he wanted to be an actor," Reid chimed in.

"How long before Jamie's body was recovered?" Hotch asked JJ.

"Two days. The lockers are outdoors – by the football field – and are off limits to students on weekends, which explains why no one discovered her until after Monday's first gym class," JJ said.

"Reid, tell Garcia to look up names of janitors, electricians, plumbers or any sort of maintenance the school had within the week of her murder. I also need you to work out where he might strike again. Prentiss and Morgan, go over the crime scene. If they struggled, there must be hair or skin still on the crime scene that may belong to the unsub. Rossi, we'll go with JJ and talk to previous detectives who worked the other cases," Hotch looked at the team.

"We need to work fast. The sooner we get the profile out, the better. He might strike again."

The agents filed out of their SUVs, with Hotch taking the lead. A man in his mid-forties was waiting for them outside.

"Detective Michaels? I'm Jennifer Jareau, we spoke on the phone," JJ said.

Michaels offered a handshake. "Adrian Michaels. Nice to meet you Ms. Jareau."

"Please, call me JJ. This is agent Hotchner… and these are agents Rossi, Prentiss, Morgan and Dr. Reid," JJ introduced the team.

"Are Jamie's parents already here?" JJ asked.

"Yeah, they're in my office. Pretty shaken up, but the mother's a tough one," Michaels said.

"Right. JJ, go to them first. Rossi and I can handle the other detectives," Hotch said. "Reid, follow up on Garcia and see if she's come up with names already."


End file.
